Corporate Tax, handled from registration to return.
The UAE's 9% Corporate Tax changed what running a business here demands. We take the whole obligation, from registration and position to computation and filing, and make it something you no longer think about.
Overview
Corporate Tax applies to taxable income above AED 375,000 at a rate of 9%, with a 0% band below that threshold. It reaches almost every business and commercial activity licensed in the UAE, mainland and free zone alike, and registration with the Federal Tax Authority is expected even where the effective rate ends up at zero.
The difficulty is rarely the rate. It's everything underneath it: whether your free-zone income actually qualifies, how related-party dealings are priced, which expenses are deductible, whether relief applies, and whether your accounting records can support the number you filed if someone asks. That's the work we do.
We act as your registered agent with the FTA, which means one point of contact for registration, filings, clarifications and any query that lands afterwards.
What's included
Every engagement is scoped to what you actually need. This is the full range we cover:
Who this is for
Mainland companies, free-zone entities, holding structures, branches of foreign companies, and groups consolidating multiple UAE licences.
Businesses within scope are expected to register with the Federal Tax Authority even where no tax is ultimately payable. Late registration and late filing both carry administrative penalties, so the cheapest version of this work is always the one done on time.
How the engagement runs
- Position review. We establish your tax period, residency status, and whether free-zone or relief provisions apply to you, before anything is filed.
- Registration. We register the entity or group with the FTA and confirm the correct tax period and filing obligations.
- Computation. We convert your IFRS accounts into a taxable income computation with every adjustment documented and defensible.
- Filing & support. We file ahead of the deadline, retain the supporting file, and handle anything the FTA raises afterwards.
Key Corporate Tax parameters
| Item | Position |
|---|---|
| Standard rate | 9% on taxable income above AED 375,000 |
| Zero-rate band | 0% on the first AED 375,000 of taxable income |
| Small Business Relief | Elective where revenue does not exceed AED 3m; available for tax periods ending on or before 31 December 2029 |
| Return deadline | Within 9 months of the end of the relevant tax period |
| Free-zone rate | 0% on qualifying income where all QFZP conditions are met |
| Large multinational groups | 15% minimum effective rate may apply under the domestic top-up tax |
The 9% question every UAE business now has to answer.
Corporate Tax applies to taxable income above AED 375,000. Registration, accurate books and a defensible position aren't optional anymore, and the penalties for getting them wrong are real. We make your answer a confident one.
Assess my Corporate Tax positionCorporate Tax, answered.
The questions we're asked most often on this service.
Yes. The AED 375,000 threshold decides what you pay, not whether you're in the regime. If you hold a UAE licence, you register with the FTA and file a return every tax period, even when the tax due is nil. Late registration carries a penalty regardless of profit.
Yes, but it's a status you hold rather than a box you tick once. The 0% rate on qualifying income applies only while every condition holds together: adequate substance, qualifying activities, non-qualifying revenue within the de-minimis limit, transfer pricing compliance, and audited financial statements. Fail one and the benefit can be lost for that period and those that follow.
Within nine months of the end of your tax period, with any tax owed payable by the same date. For a 31 December year end, that's the following 30 September. There's no extension to fall back on.
An election that lets smaller businesses be treated as having no taxable income for a tax period, removing most of the computation work. Revenue must sit below the prescribed threshold, and the relief is only available for a limited window of tax periods. Electing isn't automatically in your favour, since it affects how losses carry forward, so we model both positions first.
Come to us anyway. Voluntary disclosure and penalty-mitigation routes exist, and the outcome is almost always better when the correction comes from you rather than being found by the authority. Penalties accrue while it sits, so the sooner it's addressed the smaller it stays.
Find out where you stand.
It takes less than 30 minutes.
A call to review your obligations across tax, VAT, audit and reporting. We flag anything at risk and give you a clear next step. If you don't need us, we'll tell you that too.